New Zealand urges North Korea to abandon missile Satellite launch

March 22, 2012

WELLINGTON, March 22 — New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully urged the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (North Korea) plans to abandon its plan to launch a satellite next month using a long-range ballistic missle. McCully also called on North Korea to work with international community and stop its nuclear programme.

“The government has been cautiously optimistic about North Korea’s recent agreement with the United States to put a moratorium on long-range missile launches,” Xinhua news agency cited McCully as saying in a statement.

“This latest announcement from North Korea is therefore very disappointing. The use of ballistic missile technology to conduct the proposed launch is inconsistent both with that agreement and with UN Security Council resolutions.”